Elaine's Sourdough Baby Loaves Master Recipe
Ingredients
- 30 g (1⁄8 cup) starter
- 200 g (3⁄4 cup) water
- 4 g (1⁄2 tsp) salt, or to taste
- 300g Churchills White, Canadian Great White or Strong White Bread Flour
Elaine’s master recipe can be very simply scaled up or down to make whatever sized loaves you would like, and this recipe shows her baby master version of the recipe which makes a perfectly sized smaller loaf, ⅔ of the full size loaf. This recipe is based on using strong white bread flour, you can find many variations of the recipe in Elaine’s book and watch her video at the bottom of this page for making these smaller loaves below.
- Yield: Makes 1 small loaf
- Baker: Elaine "Foodbod" Boddy
Sourdough Baby Loaves Timing:
The timing and temperature are here to show Elaine’s ideal proving scenario. If it is colder than stated, the dough will need longer to fully prove; if it is warmer, the dough will need to be made differently from the start with less starter.
Equipment Needed For Sourdough Baby Loaves:
- Digital scales
- Large mixing bowl, ideally 23cm diameter and 9cm deep Duralex glass bowl
- Bowl scraper
- Clean shower cap
- Round cane banneton, 17 cm diameter and 8.5 cm deep OR wood pulp banneton 21.5 cm diameter and 8.5 cm deep
- Rice flour, for dusting
- Medium/large baking pan with a lid, lined with parchment paper
- Wire rack
Sourdough Baby Loaves Recipe Method:
- In your mixing bowl, roughly mix together all the ingredients. Cover and leave the bowl on the counter.
- After 2 hours, perform a set of pulls and folds on the dough. Cover the bowl and leave it on the counter.
- After 1 hour, perform two more sets of pulls and folds. Cover the bowl again and leave it on the counter again each time.
- Leave to prove until the dough has doubled in size. If you are using the Duralex bowls that Elaine uses, aim for the dough to grow level with the middle set of lines engraved on the bowl.
- Pull the dough into a tight ball and place it into your prepared banneton. Cover the banneton with your shower cap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Transfer the cold dough to your prepared pan, score it. If you’ve chosen to preheat your oven, preheat to 220°C (425°F) fan/convection or 230°C (450°F) conventional.
- Bake at the above temperatures for 40 to 45 minutes from preheated. Or, if baking from a cold start, bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and pan, and allow to cool fully before slicing.
Refer back to THIS page for the full detailed master recipe process, hints and tips.
For full details of making and baking baby loaves in cube Pullman pans see the full steps and lots of variation recipes in Elaine’s new book, The Sourdough Bible.
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My Sourdough Baby Loaves Method
By Elaine "Foodbod" Boddy
